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Daemon Targaryen is a fictional character created by George R. R. Martin, set within Westeros. He is featured in the books Fire and Blood, The World of Ice and Fire, and The Rogue Prince.

Characteristics
Daemon is a member of House Targaryen, and he is the brother to King Viserys I Targaryen. The books he is written in portray him as a man loyal, but disapproving and disappointed in his brother. In artwork he is shown to have the classic Valryian looks of silver hair and purple eyes, being described as dashing, daring and dangerous by Maester Yandal, the fictisious historian who's point of view many of Martin's prequel books are written from. Daemon wields one of the two Valyrian Steel swords of House Targaryen, Dark Sister, symbolising his status as a renowned warrior. He is also an experienced dragon rider, a trait found throughout his family, of the dragon Caraxes, also known as 'The Blood Wyrm' due to his red colour.

Martin desribes him as a 'grey character', as he is neither wholly evil, yet none would call him a good man either, and this shows in his life. He loves his children yet uses them to further his own goals and ambitious, he is unfaithful to his wives yet during his later years is genuinely fond of them. He is a man who orders the death murder of children, yet also let a girl go after she was wrongfully accused of treason by a paranoid and grieving women. Martin also describes him as colourful and unpredictable character, which adds makes him even more of a fan favourite.

Life
Daemon was the younger son of the heir to the throne, Prince Baelon Targaryen, who was themselves a second son who attained the position following the death of the eldest living male child of the king, Aemon Targaryen. When his own father dies, there is a succession crises in the Kingdom and after the old king calls for a vote, refered to as a Great Council, it is decided that Daemon's elder brother Viserys is the new heir. Importantly, this establishes the precedent that a male heir is to be chosen over a female one, regardless of age or previous order of succession.

Daemon was married to a powerful lady within one of the Seven Kingdoms, however their marriage is not a successful one and remains childless, though whether this is because his wife, Lady Rhea Royce, is barren or because he refuses to sleep with her is unclear. When his brother ascends the throne, Daemon is assumed heir, due to the precedent set during the Great Council, despite the fact that his brother already has a daughter. However, Viserys' marriage results in several miscarriages, and when a son is eventually born, the mother dies, and the son follows her a day later. Daemon was later reported to have being mockingly toasting to Baelon as 'the heir for a day', celebrating his own fortune for remaining the de facto heir.

When Viserys hears of this he is furious, and has his daughter, Rhaenyra, declared heir despite the the precedent set in the Great Council, an event that led to his own rise as king. Daemon is enraged and resigns his position within the capital, Kings Landing, and flies with his lover Mysaria to the island of Dragonstone, the ancesteral seat of House Targaryen and the tradition seat of heir to the throne. While living their his lover becomes pregnant and Daemon wishes to give the new child a dragon egg, a tradition within the family. However, the King refuses and demands he return to the wife he hates. Daemon tries to send his lover abroad, but a storm strikes the ship she is on and while his lover survives, the unborn child does not, causing a rift to form in the relationship with his brother.

Daemon despises his wife and decides to try and form his own realm through conquest, teaming up with the powerful noble Corlys Velaryon to take a nearby island chain between the two continents, called the Stepstones. This is a possibility because Daemon rides the dragon Caraxes, and Corlys is the wealthiest man in the realm and also holding the largest fleet. This war lasts years, as the nearby city states band together to oppose his rule of the islands, funding his enemies and sending a large fleet to oppose him. While he is successful in battle, gaining a fearsome reputation and battle experiance, he is never able to truely control the many islands of the archipelago.

Eventually, Daemon decides to return to Kings Landing having grown bored with ruling his kingdom, though it was only one in name, and arrives during a tourney, where he kneels before his brother and hands him his crown. Viserys, unlike his younger brother, is a jovial man with much joy about him, and eagerly welcomes his brother back and gives him a high position in court. However, the half decade away from the capital did little to change Daemon, and he returns to his old habits quickly, which include visiting the areas of the city ill repute, travelling from brothel to brothel and tavern to tavern.

It is also at this point his next scheme begins as he begins to seduce his niece Rhaenyra, who despite the fact the Viserys has remarried and has had three more children, two of which are sons, has kept Rhaenyra as his heir. However, after less than a year being back in the capital, Viserys once again exiles his brother, though there are conflicting sources as to why. Some believe it was because the new queen wanted him gone, others because he took the Princess Rhaenyra's virginity, either because she was in love with him, or wanted lessons from him on how to charm a knight she may have been infatuated with. Regardless of the reason, Daemon departed back the Stepstones to rule his scorched kingdom.

Shortly after this his wife passes away, and he tries to claim her lands as his own given she died with an heir, however a distant relative is rewarded the lands and Daemon is forced to leave by the ruler of the region. On his way back south he lays eyes on Coryls daughter, Laena Velaryon, and askes his old friend for her hand in marriage, despite the fact she is already betrothed. He solves this by slaying the man she is betrothed to and then marries her. Again, there are different accounts to why he does, some say it was love at first sight and others believe it was to be protected by the powerful Velaryon family. Unlike his first marriage, this one is much more successful, and Laena is a dragon rider herself, riding the largest of all the living dragons Vhagar. The two of them travel the distant city states across the sea, and Laena eventually gives birth to twins, Baela and Rhaena Targaryen.

Unfortunately for Daemon, this suprisingly peaceful time in his life wouldn't last as Laena died while birthing a son, who also died in the process. Daemon didn't stay unwedded for long, however, and married his niece Rhaenyra who was still heir to the throne, despite the fact that in the past Daemon had been Rhaenyra's first rival to the throne. This was seen as a great uproar as both of them had only recently being widowed, spawning theories that Daemon might have been responsible for the deaths of Rhaenyra's previous husband and lover. The two went on to have two children over the next nine years after that, one named Aegon who was referred to as Aegon the Younger to distinguish him from Rhaenrya's brother, and the rival claiment to the throne, Aegon the Elder. The other child was named Viserys, after Daemon's brother.

The Dance of the Dragons
Nine years after Daemon's marriage to Rhaenyra his brother Viserys died, but as Daemon and Rhaenyra weren't in the capital, rather on Dragonstone, at the time their rivals were crowned her younger brother Aegon the Elder king, citing the that a son always comes before a daughter as the precedent had been seet in the Great Council all those years ago. Rhaenyra was pregnant at the time, and news of what had happened cause her to go into early labour, and the daughter did not survive. The factions who supported Rhaenyra were known as the "Blacks", whereas those who supported Aegon were known as the "Greens", due to the dresses Rhaenyra and the Queen mother had worn to a tourney nearly two decades prior. After advising Rhaenyra to reach out to lords who had yet to decide who they would support, Daemon left Dragonstone to capture the Strategically vital castle of Harrenhal in the Riverlands, the kingdom at the center of the Seven Kingdoms and therefor strategically important. What was important however, was that while Daemon, and anyone who rode a suffiecently large dragon, could show up and capture a castle, only armies could hold them and in the early stages of the war while the Blacks had more dragons, the greens had more armies.

After Rhaenyra's son Lucerys was killed, Daemon contacted his former lover Myseria to have the capital infiltrated, and had two assassins murder one of Aegons sons in retribution. Another of Daemons stepsons, Jacaerys, was killed when his old enemies from across the sea sent a fleet towards Dragonstone. His son Viserys was also thought killed at the time but was infact captured, though Daemon would never learn this, while his other son Aegon lost his dragon and became severely depressed at its loss and his percieved loss of his brother.

Daemon remained in the Riverlands with another dragon rider, who he also took as a lover, looking for his nephew and brother to King Aegon, Aemond 'one-eye' Targaryen, as he rode the largest dragon alive and was the Greens most powerful asset, and Aemond was also responsible for killing Lucerys. Events from elsewhere meant that Rhaenrya became distrustful of the dragon rider who accompanied Daemon, and called for her head, but Daemon let her get away.

Daemon once again returned to Harrenhal, which had been reoccupied by the Greens, and laid a challenge for his nephew Aemond, knowing the boy was arrogant and prideful, much like Daemon was when he was younger. For two weeks he waited, and finally Aemond arrived. What followed became the stuff of legends, as the two began a fierce dragon duel above the largest castle in Westeros. Caraxes was smaller, but still large enough and fierce enough to be a threat to Vhagar, and the two delievered fatal wounds to one another. Importantly, Daemon had never chained himself into the saddle, and while the two dragons locked onto each other and fell to the ground, Daemon lept from his saddle and drove his sword through Aemonds remaining eye, avenging his stepson.

However, they had fallen from the sky, and just as Daemon, who at this point was in his fifties, slew Aemond, their dragons hit the water, presumably killing him instantly. His dragon Caraxes managed to crawl out of the water, despite its guts falling out and missing an 'arm', only to die on the lakeside. While Aemond's body was recovered years later, with Daemon's sword still through his skull, Daemons was never found, leading some to believed he may have survived and reunited with the dragon rider he had taken as a lover, though it is highly unlikely given the fall from above the clouds. Maesters (the historians and doctors of Westeros) remember this event as the Battle above the Gods Eye (the name of the lake), and it was one of the last events of the war. Shortly after, Cregan Stark, a ancestor of the Starks from Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, marches south with a large army and captures the capital, placing Aegon the Younger on the throne, fulfilling Daemon's wish for his blood on the throne.

Legacy
During his life, Daemon garnered a reputation as the most dangerous person in Westeros, and many sought to make sure that no matter the cost, neither him nor his blood would sit upon the Iron Throne. Even those who hated him feared and begrudgingly respected his martial prowess, and he was the strongest asset that Rhaenyra had on her side during her bid to the throne, and his mere presence swayed some lords to his side, and other away as they were desperate for him never to achieve that much power.

Yet despite what all his enemies wanted, for the rest of House Targaryen's reign over Westeros, all the Kings were descended from his line through his younger son Viserys, and both his sons reign as Kings,so ultimately his goal was successful. Even Daenerys Targaryen is one of his descendants, despite her house not currently ruling Westeros. The name Daemon began to hold a certain reputation, especially after his great-grandson Daemon Blackfyre began a rebellion to claim the crown, and spawning a line of descendants who continued to claim the throne and cause civil wars for a centuary.

Television Adaptation
Daemon's character has seen new fame in recent HBO series called House of the Dragon, based on the Targaryen civil war and the events leading up to it. In the show he is portrayed by Matt Smith, and his character remains broudly the same, though with some changes already made, such as Daemon being directly responsible for his first wifes death.

Authors Opinion
In an interview Martin says "I am notorious for my love of grey characters, and one of the greyest characters in the entirity of Westeros is Daemon Targaryen, the Rogue Prince." Martin is famous for the amount of work he puts into his characters, and the way he writes there is always room for interpretation, so he leaves it up to the reader to decide what kind of person they believe Daemon is, though no matter what Martin enjoyed writing Daemon as a character.